I know, rhetorical question; because no one knows. People have speculated endlessly over whether we will see our four-footed friends in the hereafter.
This has been a sad day, since we had to say goodbye to one of our cats. Which has prompted this line of thought. Even though we knew it was the right thing to do, really the only thing to do, euthanasia feels a lot like betrayal.
Some theologians have said that animals don't have the capacity for heaven, since they are not capable of moral agency, and have no understanding of God. To which I would say, why couldn't they experience heaven in a natural way, rather like they experience life on earth? Is it necessary that they understand?
I follow the line of reasoning which says that God didn't create anything that he didn't love. That we can look forward to the beatific vision, and also the healing and completion of creation. Which means animals and plants, as well as saints and angels, and God himself.
The above picture is of the cat, Savannah, taken a few years ago. The cushion is one that the granddaughters gave me for Mother's Day. They knew that it would appeal to Grandma's eccentricity.
I turn to these prayers often. If you wonder if your cat is in heaven, you're probably the kind of person who made a happy life for Savannah. God bless you, and may she find a home with St. Francis.
ReplyDeletehttp://saintland.com/prayers-for-pets/
Thanks Jean. I like the prayers on that link. And I was amused by the picture of St. Gertrude with the mice.
DeleteThey give love. Love must eventually return to its Source. They will be in heaven.
ReplyDelete"Love must eventually return to its Source", I like that thought, Stanley.
DeleteI also enjoy the thought that in Paradise animals can play in the outdoors as they please (maybe it's all outdoors there?) Here we have to keep pets inside for their own safety, at least in town.
Savannah was named for lovely town.
ReplyDeleteRomans 8:19-23
"For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God; for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it, in hope that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.
"We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now; and not only that, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies."
Paul makes explicit what Francis is criticized, in some quarters, for repeating -- that God loves all Creation -- the flamingos and Douglas firs as well as us. If you need your cat in heaven, I believe you will find her. And I am not particularly a cat lover.
Or maybe we'll be in heaven because the cats need a human ...
DeleteTom, I have always liked that reading from Romans.
DeleteAnd Jean, you may be right!
That your cat is beside a throw pillow with a picture of a cat on it isn't lost on us :-)
ReplyDeleteI've had to watch cat euthanasia once. (I didn't have to, but chose to. Thought that standing by him was the least I could do for him.)
I was on a business trip when we had to do this most recently, so my wife and daughter had to make the last trip to the vet's. It was very hard on them - they are much more emotionally attached to the cats than I am. Or at least attached in a different way. I don't mean to be critical of them (meaning the wife and kids), but they tend to anthropomorphize and infantilize the cats. I don't see the cats as "babies", at least after they reach adulthood - I see them as dignified and rather amazing creatures of God. When they are in good health, their sensory perception and athletic prowess are astonishing.
At the same time, their living arrangement with us dictates that we feed them, clean and change their litter, keep them inside the house for their own good and safety (and that of the neighbors and critters outside), amuse them especially during the long winter months when the house is hermetically sealed, keep them up with their shots, allow them to sit on our laps to keep warm when the house is chilly, give them loads of attention when they are young and need a surrogate mom, and probably do other things to care for them that I'm not thinking of.
They recompense us by (very occasionally) killing any hapless rodents that manage to find their way inside the house, from time to time eating creepy-crawly things (one cat in particular can be counted on, to the extent that any cat can be counted on, to munch on centipedes), and amuse us.
I don't think cats understand agape; their relationship with us humans tends to be strictly transactional. But that is ok; that is how God made them, and if they are acting according to their nature, I am okay with that.
I think Jean's insight is wonderful: it may be that cats are in heaven because we'll need them there.
That was Tom's insight.
DeleteI have held at least a dozen cats while they "crossed over" with the help of the vet. Always hard, but part of the job.
I babied mine until I had a human baby, and then realized how "adult" and self-directed they were. I agree they're pretty transactional, but I can think of two or three who seemed attached to me by choice. I have also seen older cats tend to younger ones and younger cats rally around an old one on his way out.
Doris Lessing's "Particularly Cats" is a wonderful and unsentimental meditation on living with cats.
Jim, you are right that pet ownership involves a lot of chores and responsibilities. In fact when the cat we still have passes on, I am resolved that we will be done with the pet scene. Though one should never say never.
DeleteIt's funny how cats will bond more with one particular human more than others. Savannah always sought out my husband's lap. Especially when he was reading his breviary. He called it "ves-purrs". Though if he wasn't available she would buddy up with me.
I will have to look up "Particularly Cats".
DeleteMy mother in law had two Siamese cats, as aloof critters as you would ever want to meet. But when my father in law was recovering from a heart attack, they didn't leave his side. Altruism? I don't know.
A supine human is always inviting, especially when heated up with a fever. They will purr for you, which is an instinctive response to distress and illness.
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